The Winter Girl
by SheIsTheLovelyWinterGirl
Summary: When Hannah moves from a small town in Texas to La Push, she's sure nothing will change. She'll always be Hannah, the girl with nothing special. Embry Call is sure to change that. I know everybody says this, but I literally SUCK at summaries. Helpful criticism is much appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Everyone says being different is a good thing. That standing out will get you far in life, and being your own person is as easy as one- two- three! But what they never tell you is how hard it is to be different in a place where everyone is against it; in a place where everyone is the same. Where I come from, the small, middle- of- nowhere Texas, people stare and whisper as you walk by. They don't set aside differences to make sure everyone has a wonderful high school experience. If you don't follow their lead and do exactly what they say and think exactly as they think, they can make it a living hell. It's not like they try to. They don't wake up every morning as think "Today, I'm going to make Hannah's life utterly miserable." No, far from it. It's just that I'm different. I don't freak out if my parents don't buy me the newest iPhone, and I don't insist on wearing hundreds of dollars of clothing every day to school. Instead of spending my Friday night football games gossiping about which football play did which cheerleader, I'm sitting in the stands, watching the game with my dad. Instead of wasting my lunch break sitting in the cafeteria and spreading malicious rumors about innocent people, I quietly sit in the library and study, so I can get out of here one day.

So when my parents announced that we were leaving this southern version of Beverly Hills, I really wasn't too upset. It's not like anyone would miss me. I didn't even really have friends. I had the type of "friends" that let me sit with them during assemblies, and (with a lot off pity, might I add) would invite me to their social events. I always went, even when I didn't want to. It's not like I didn't like them, it's just that I knew deep down they only tolerated me. I was the quiet girl who spent her weekends sitting in her room, safe from the Texas heat, and reading. I just didn't fit in here. I was too _different_. But I wasn't the good kind of different either. I wasn't the exciting girl who would dye her hair funky colors or the confident girl who would wear outrageous outfits but still look fabulous in them. I was the bad kind of different. I was different because there was absolutely nothing special about me. I was just Hannah.

My dad's new job (the reason for our move) sure would make me stand out a little, though. I would be the only Caucasian girl to roam the streets of La Push, a Native American reservation in Washington. My dad got a job at the reservation, sort of like being the local handy man. He would just fix whatever needed to be fixed.

I'm not going to lie here, I could never tell if I was excited or nervous about the move. Social anxiety kind of does that to you. I was excited because I would finally be somewhere I always wanted to be. Somewhere it was cold and rainy all the time and—Holy cow, the _snow_! Don't get me wrong, I love Texas, but I never like the heat. I was nervous because I wouldn't have had a hard time blending in with the background, which is exactly what I wanted to do, at any other high school, but being the only white chick, that would make it hard. I didn't like standing out. I don't like being noticed at school. I just want to go, get my work, then go home to my family and my pets and my books and my writing. I guess I would just have to get used to it, though. I could be strong. I wasn't weak, at least I hoped I wasn't.

Our new house wasn't that bad. It was a two-story house, which was new to me. I had never lived in a two-story before. Though it had an extra floor, it was small. I liked it. It felt comfortable and cozy. There's something about living in a wooden house. The brick houses in Texas all look the same. They were cold, uncomfortable, and tiresome. Maybe I could actually have a home here.

My room was my favorite part. The walls were a dusty rose-pink color. I had never been a particular fan of the color pink, but I actually like it. My new bed was a dark teal, and I had accessories around the room that matched it. The floors were wooden, which would get cold in the winter time, but I could deal. I'll just wear socks all the time. To the left of the bedroom door, was a closet, just big enough for all of my clothes. To the left of the closet was my own bathroom, complete with a toilet, sink, and bathtub! That I could get used to.

Tomorrow was Monday, but thank goodness my parents agreed to give me an extra day or two to get used to my surroundings and unpack. I don't think I could have handled going into school tomorrow. It was December 8th. Starting school in the middle of the year would be difficult. Oh well, at least Christmas break wasn't too far away.

I climbed in between my fresh sheets and inhaled deeply. I would be okay. I would like it here, I promised myself. Even if I had to force myself to. My window was cracked slightly, the rain was slowly and gently pattering down and the wind was blowing. I'm not crazy, I swear, I just love the cold. And growing up in Texas, I didn't get a lot of it. I reached up and turned my lamp off. As darkness engulfed me, I tried to calm the thoughts whirling around in my head like a hurricane. I focused on listening to the wind howling outside.

I was just about to fall asleep when another kind of howling interrupted my drowsiness and awakened my conscience mind.

It was a wolf.

And it sounded close.


	2. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

**Hey y'all. Let me start off by apologizing for this Author's Note. I hate them, too. I just wanted to let y'all know that it might take me a few days to get the first chapter up. I'm still working out a few bugs and I'm kind of suffering from writer's block right now, and the words I'm writing just aren't flowing right. I am in desperate need of inspiration.**

**Also, I wanted to inform y'all that the only wolves that will phase in my story are Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Jacob, and Quil. Seth might phase a little bit more into the story, but I'm not quite sure yet.**

**I also wanted to give a big thank you to those you favorited the story and wrote reviews! It means a lot to me that you guys did that, especially with just the prologue up.**

**-SheIsTheLovelyWinterGirl**


	3. Chapter One: Born With A Broken Heart

Chapter One: I Was Born With A Broken Heart

When I awoke that morning, I couldn't seem to remember what had happened after I heard the wolf's howl. It must have lulled me to sleep. I sleepily pushed my arm out of the warm embrace of my blankets and quilts to reach for my phone which was sitting on the bedside table. When I checked the time, I realized it would probably be either second or third period at school by now. Crap. I had slept later than I wanted to. I still had a lot of unpacking to do.

If I've already slept this late, I thought to myself, what's another hour or two?

I closed my eyes and was just about to drift off into sleep again when I suddenly bolted upright in my bed. A wolf! I had heard a wolf! All my life, literally ALL MY LIFE, I've been obsessed with wolves. I could suddenly recall me as a child, being scorned by the other girls in my kindergarten class because I refused to play princess with them, and instead ran around the monkey bars howling. All throughout elementary and even sometimes junior high, every report and project was done on wolves. I learned to tone it down during high school, of course, but the wolves are something that has never left me.

How did my brain not register that that was what I had heard last night? I didn't even know the creatures roamed this territory.

Sliding out of my bed with my brow furrowed, I quickly hopped in the shower.

"Hey, Hannah?" my mother cooed at me, using the voice she only ever used when she wanted something. "Are you all finished unpacking?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, slightly wary of what favor she was about to ask of me this time.

"Do you think you could run into Forks for me? I just need you to pick up a few things that we can't find here in La Push."

After I nodded, I ran upstairs to my room and changed into something clean. Just a pair of blue jeans, a fitted brown v-neck t-shirt, and some winter boots. Dressing up wasn't really my style. As I pulled my hair into a messy ponytail, I thought I saw something strange in the forests beyond my window. There was movement. My mind wandered back to the wolf I heard the night before. I quickly shook my head at the idea. Now is not the time, I told myself. I grabbed my coat and the keys to my dad's old truck and headed to Forks.

By the time I was done running all of Mom's errands, it was around five o' clock in the afternoon. I had been watching the kids around my age, kids who must have gone to Forks High School, run around at the supposedly "fun" spots to hang out in Forks after school. Apparently there weren't too many. I could feel the stares as I would walk through a group of them. I hated being the new face to look at. I hated the attention. I just wanted to disappear. I could feel the girls sneering at me and judging my every move and the guys raking my body up and down with their eyes. I hated it. I wanted out.

To escape the idiotic teenagers, I pulled into the parking lot of a cozy and quiet looking coffee shop. Bingo! It was also a book store! That was good news. I loved to read. I smiled softly as I heard the quiet _ding_ of the bell as I entered through the door. A snobby looking girl with brown hair was working the front desk. She couldn't have been much older than me, but by the look on her face, she wanted to be anywhere but here.

As I browsed through the hundreds of book selections (a surprisingly large amount for such a small book shop) I found myself in the young adult section. I knew what I was looking for. It was the same thing I was always looking for. I always had my nose stuffed into some kind of book, but more often or not it was a romance novel. People never suspected that of me. I was supposed to be the girl that thought love was stupid and irrelevant. That wasn't the case. That was never the case. I just thought I didn't deserve love. Every time I looked in the mirror, I couldn't see how someone could love me. It wasn't my face that was the problem. Oh no. I was far from pretty, but I wasn't ugly. I knew that much. I had an all-around average looking face. Maybe someone with confidence and grace could achieve beauty with it, but not me. What I looked at were my eyes. The windows to my soul. As I would gaze into my own hazel-green orbs, I couldn't see how anyone could love me for who I was. What was so special about me? What about me was there to love? My heart was always broken. I had never suffered through a tragic break-up. I had never had my feelings crushed. It was just who I was. I was born with a broken heart.

My eyes fell upon a title of a book on the top shelf. _Nightshade_ by Andrea Cremer. There was a picture of a girl and a wolf on the cover. That looked right up my alley. I bought the book and a medium coffee and took a secluded corner seat by the window. While I was opening up my book and waiting for my coffee to cool off, I couldn't help but notice and couple seated not too far from me. The man was huge. He couldn't have been much older than me. Maybe a few years. He had deep russet skin, and was surprisingly dressed for summer, even though it must have been forty-five degrees. His large arm was draped around a rather fragile looking woman, also seeming to be a few years older than I. She was stunning. Her skin was a shade or two lighter than her lover's, and her thick black hair cascaded down her shoulders, reflecting the artificial light of the book store and coffee shop hybrid. Her smile looked like the sun. She turned her face to look at her companion when I noticed all of the scars that marred her. Shockingly, they didn't make me see her as any less of a beauty. They simply told a story. They were both obviously from the reservation. I took in their dark hair, skin, and eyes, and then glanced at myself in the reflection of the window. I would have been considered freakishly pale at Forks High, but at the reservation? I would be a circus clown to them. My brown hair was long and thick, and naturally straight, falling down to at least slightly below my elbows, but it was much to light to fit in at La Push High School.

It was no wonder the couple didn't catch me staring. They were completely absorbed within one another. I felt something bubble up inside me as I watched the couple stare into each other's eyes. It wasn't really jealousy, but sorrow. I would never have something like that. They were not an ordinary couple. That much I knew. They would be together forever. I knew not their names, nor their story, but I knew, I knew from a deep dwelling in the pit of my soul, that they loved each other and would sacrifice anything to be with one another.

It was at that moment that just by chance I had looked toward the door. Just by chance I had locked eyes with the most beautiful soul I would ever come across. This boy-This man must have been the single most perfect person ever born into this world. He was like a book character come to life. It was just by chance the he too had looked into my eyes at the same moment. He stopped in his tracks and stared. His eyes widened and a million different emotions flashed in his piercing brown eyes. First, confusion. Then, happiness and excitement, closely followed by sadness and fear, then anger and hatred and fear still. He stood still and watched me. I was quickly broken out of my trance at the look of anger on his face, though still it was mixed with happiness and fear. It was then that I noticed the couple had seen the whole thing. The man, with his brow furrowed watched the boy, then me. He stood when the boy started to shake and twitch. The man went to him and grabbed the boy by the shoulders.

"Embry, don't," his deep, authority-filled voice bellowed out from his chest like a large clap of thunder in the middle of a peaceful snowfall.

Still the boy, Embry as I learned, was staring and shaking, torn on the inside with emotion.

"Not here, Embry," the man's voice boomed, a hint of final warning filled the air.

When Embry continued to shake and stare, with what seemed like tears filling his eyes, the man glanced once more at me and pulled Embry outside. The woman he was will was staring now, too. Her eyes sent me a wave of remorse, though I couldn't understand why. She quickly gathered her things and followed her lover, even though he had already disappeared.

I sat there in the corner of the book store. My coffee had now gone cold and my book was lying untouched on the table.

"Embry," I would quietly whisper to myself, so quietly that I was sure no one else would be able to hear me, even though the shop was empty aside from the uninterested cashier.

"Embry," I once again whispered, the very sound of his name sent electricity running down my spine. The very formation of his name on my lips filled me with a feeling I had never felt be for.

Fate.

It was by fate we had locked eyes, and not by chance.

Fate.


End file.
